Pride NYE shrinkage

Gay and lesbian Sydney’s dance party calendar will be re-drawn -“ again -“ as a result of Pride’s recently announced $130,000 year-end loss. While the organisation will retain its traditional New Year’s Eve party fundraiser, Pride co-president Lou-Anne Lind warned that it will be a smaller event than in previous years. New Year’s Eve traditionally cost us between $300,000 and $350,000 to put on, Lind said. Obviously we’re not willing to risk that capital again, so New Year’s Eve will look different to what it looks like now. We’ll be looking at a smaller, slicker, less-risk, lower-cost event. Some 4,000 people attended Pride’s last New Year’s Eve party, which lost $40,000. This, together with an annual $120,000 rent bill, contributed to the organisation’s big loss announced in last week’s Star Observer.I’m really conscious as the Pride president not to want to stand up and pass the blame on, but I think we had a very big year last year, Lind said. The [Sydney 2002 Gay] Games were a great cultural success and people participated and were really active in those events. Come December, the [work] leave had been taken, the money had already been spent, people wanted a quiet New Year’s Eve. It’s also fair to say that we didn’t deliver a product that people were looking for, and we’ve got to be honest about that. We need to deliver something that’s more dynamic and more cost-effective, and we certainly hope to do that this year, Lind said.